We’re not all that: 3 New Year’s resolutions

Our school is rated as one of the best schools in Broward County and we are also the best at avoiding any sort of “drama” that creeps through our hallways.
That said, we have some things to work on. Here are three resolutions for our school in 2017.

We need to talk about our social issues.

“I think we need more opportunity for dialog among students,” language arts teacher Ms. Avery said. “Students should be able to freely discuss topics whether involving race, ethnicity, or religion.”

As millennials, we’ve seen and heard it all, whether through the media or our surrounding environment. But for some reason we avoid discussing prominent events, like police shootings of unarmed civilians or the legalization of medical marijuana, that can affect us all. We should be able to talk about sensitive topics whether or not other people agree with our sentiments toward the topic. Discussion is a key tool in democratic education.

“It’s a conversation that needs to happen.” senior Sydney Williamson said. Our school has made several short-sighted attempts, but assemblies, announcements, and speeches are only effective if you attack a problem head on. Surface conversations will only get our school surface outcomes.

“As an international school, we should be able to incorporate world-wide topics into our classes,” Williamson continued. Although we live in a country that fears discussing these topics because they can be very sensitive, that shouldn’t limit our school. That indicates that it is absolutely necessary to talk about such topics.

Focus on those who care.

“I think they (staff) need to start showing more appreciation toward the students,” junior Pedro Renteria said. “We definitely give an arm and a leg at this school and some of us barely get noticed.”

One might say that attending this school is an incentive on its own but by trying really hard to keep everyone here, the school is placing a barrier between itself and its “scholars.”

Although this school is filled with bright and brilliant students, there are students who “don’t care.” This attitude leads to counselors and staff trying to keep those students here, but they have to understand that our school isn’t for everyone.

Don’t limit students in the classroom.

“We should not feel limited by our teachers,” junior Racquel Melville said. “Their job is to teach and we take to the responsibility of using that knowledge for our advantage.”

Teacher receive a salary by transferring their knowledge to their students in ways we can understand and make use of in our course.

So often do we find students that complain about teachers who limit the creativity of their students. The “I’m right and you’re wrong” phase has lived long enough. In one class a teacher told students that he/she didn’t care about how they felt about how to solve a problem because their way was the way they had to do in the class. Yet there were other ways to solve the problem and get to the same answer.

Most students wouldn’t come to school to stare at a blank wall; they really come to learn and want to make use of the things they learn in every aspect of life.

This is why they should be able to challenge our intelligent teachers, and with all the intelligent students at this school, it should be expected.

This school has a lot of potential and with these “simple” fixes we could begin a new era where students feel a lot happier and are more successful with their academic environment.